Switch stand lock



Ma 9, 1933. P, SWAN ON 1,907,611

SWITCH STAND LOCK Filed June 13, 1932 5 Sheets-Sheet l May 9, 1933. V p SWANSQN 1,907,611

SWITCH STAND LOCK Filed June 13, 1932 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 May 9, 1933. P. SWANSON swITcH STAND LOCK Filed June 13, 1932 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 FY5853 "8a 7 J u HI ITI I I I I I H U I l i l I I l i I D I I l l I I I I l Patented May 9, 1933 PATENT] ome PETER swANsoinoF ELY; MINNESOTA" SWITCH STAND LOCK Application filed June 13,

This invention relatesto railroad switch stand locks and is designed to be adaptable with comparatively slight modifications to two different types of switch. stands, for ex ample those illustrated one in my former patent, 1,835,442 of Dec. 8, 1931, and one in my former Patent 1,812,179,.of June 30, 1931, in which latter the head of the switch stand is both rotatably and reciprocably movable 9 when the switch is to be operated; that is to'say the switch operating handle is piv otally mounted upon the head of the switch stand adjacent the lock. 7

The principal object of the instant inven- 5 tion is to further simplify the construction of such a lock and better adapt it to the various circumstances and requirements ar1sing in the art; for example whereby it may be made as a lock readily applied to the O handle of one type of switch stand, or to the head of the switch stand as preferred.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear in the following description thereof. Referring now to the accompanying draw:- ings, forming part of this application, and wherein like reference characters indicate like parts;

Fig. 1 is an elevation partly in section of one of the locks with one side of the clamping portion of the housing removed;

Fig. 2 is a broken section partly in elevation, taken on the line 2-2. Figure 1 V Fig. 3 is a view similar'to Fig. 1 of a slightly modified form of lock and housing therefor;

Fig. 4 is a view similar toFig. 2, though of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the removable clamping portion of the housing;

Fig. 6 is a side elevation partly in section of a modified form of the lock as applied to a switch stand in which the switch at right angles to Fig. 4; and

Figure 8 isa top plan view withthe cover portion of the lock housing in section.

lrepresents the main body portion of the lock housing which is rectangular in shape lever is pivotally attached adjacent the lock Fig. 7 is a front elevation partly in section- 1932. Serial No. 616,906.

upon the top andbottom andpreferably open upon the upperportionof one side, thelower portion of this side being indicatedat2, and

the object of which will bedescribed later.

A ledge 3 is formed wholly about'the base of the main body portion of. the housing, while upon one side and face thereof there extend the'walls 4 and 5,they being: integral with;

each other. ately shaped extension, indicated at 6, hollowed out to fit one side of the switch stand handle which is indicatedin dotted lines at 1,.

and is also provided with adownwardlyextending lug 8 having a hole 9 .therethroug-hfor cooperatlve clamping engagement with the removable clamping side portion 10,. shown in Figure 5, this latter also having, a

T he wall 5 has a somewhat arculug 1.1,With the hole 12 therethrough for such clamping. engagement by means of the singlebolt indicated in dotted lines, Fig. 4,- so that when these two side portionsare united about the handle, the lock housing will be securely held. inv proper position over the bifurcated portion of: the handle through which; the switchstand lug indicated in dotted lines at.-

l protrudes' when the ,handle is in locked position. It .will be noted that both. the

clamping side portions 6 and 10 of the; at-

tachment are provided; with hooked finger like projections 14 which are designed to,

assist in the firm engagement of the lock.

housing upon the switch" handle. Further-' more the slide clamp 10 isprovided with afiller or spacer projection 15 for lying against the-narrow wall 2 ofthe housing body when in position thereupon and? provided with a hole therein'for registration with the house bolt 16. The cover part of the housingis' illustrated at 17 and is open only upon the under side thereof for application to and upon the main body portion overlapping the projection 15 of the side clamp 10, it having.

previously been put into place supposedly upon the handle when installation takes place.

held in position by a suitable nut 1 The housebolt 16 is provided with: a cut.-

out portion 19 registering with certain portions hereinafter described of the locking dog 20 and forming the limiting collar 21 with Then thehousebolt 1'6is applied and" respect to its extent of thrust into the assembly, and which thrust is designed to bring the' blank head of the bolt 16 flush with the cap or covering member 17 of the housing as clearly shown in Figure 2 of the drawings, with only the nut 18 protruding upon the opposite side thereof, it being seen that the collar 21 impinges the inner face of the narrow wall 2 of the'housing when the bolt is in position. a

The gravity locking dog 20 is pivotally mounted upon the pin 22 journalled within the opposite walls of the inner portion 1 of the housing and is held therein only by installation of the cap 17 so that extremely easy means for disconnecting same is thus afforded. a laterally extending arm or finger 23 carrying the pin '24 on the upper face thereof directly above which is a similar depending pin 25-fixed to the bent over portion 26 of one side wall of the housing 1, and intermediate of and "about such pins is installed the expansive'helical spring 27 for the purpose of biasing the locking dog 20 to its locking position and prevent tampering. A wedge like depending extension 28 is formed integral with the finger 23, and slightly arcuate'upon the underside thereof to register within the cut out space 19 of the housing bolt 16 when the w locking dog is in looking position so that even when the nut 18 is removed from the protruding end of the house bolt the latter could not be removed until the locking dog had assumed unlocked position. ,Now such unlocked position of the dog 20 is accomplished as is obvious by' the action of the key '29, as clearly shown in Figure 2 of the drawings. For such purposethe key is trust into the usual key hole provided ,on the front face of the i assembled housing and onto the key pin 30 which protrudes from the cylinder like structure 31 extending from the back wall of the housing 1, and when turned engages the arcuately shaped edge of the locking dog, as at 32,

and when the key is further turned it'will swing the lower end of the dog out of locking position, and, if peradventure such movement'of the locking dog has occurred prior to the entrance of the lug 13 into the lower portion of the lock housing, the dog 33 pivoted as at 34 will drop as by gravity down in front of the finger 35 of the-locking dog and prevent removal of the key from the lock until the lug 13 or similar device is thrust into the lock to remove the latch 33 from such retard ing'position. Thus the lock is rendered absolutely safe against the removalof the key after once being unlocked without the element which is intended to be locked in such & position being within the lock.

This locking dog is provided with .moved, thus providing an auxiliary safety feature of the lock.

From the above it is obvious that the paramount novelty of the instant structure is that'of the locking dog, which directly en-' gages the switch stand lug, being of unitary structure and directly operated by the key both to locked and unlocked position, and that the same is operable in no other manner normally except by the key. 7 I

Furthermore it is obvious that'neither the locking dog nor its support has anything whatever to do with the assembly'of the parts of the housing with the exception that it pre-; vents the disassembly of such parts when in locked position, and that it cannot be unlocked normally without the key."

Thus I have provided'a lock and housing,

therefor. the latter being applicable, when disassembled, to a common switch stand handie, and securely attached thereto by the house" bolt and an auxiliary clamping bolt, which latter is the single bolt previously re ferred to, and one which cannot be removed from the handle without first unlocking the dog, removal of the house bolt, and subsequent removal of the key.

In the modification shown in Figures 6, 7, and 8, embodying the same principals of operation of the mechanism just described,

the distinction is that the locking dog is com-.

posed of the two parts 50 and 51, pivotally united as at 52 with the portion 51 being pivoted as at 53 and directly operable'by the key illustrated at 5 1, the gravitating feature of which dog is obviously augmented by the depending portion 51 provided with the horizontal head 55 operable within the chamber 56 of the switch stand head 57. This latter is of the type lastly spoken of in the preamble of the specification and which both rotatesv and vertically reciprocates with the throwing of the switch. The depending handle ofthis type, when the switch is locked, depends as at 58 and is pivotally mounted on the switch head as at 59. In this instance the inner portion of the lock housing is illustrated at 60 and the outer portion or cap at 61, and these two parts are held together as by the house bolt 62, similar in all respects to thehous'e bolt 16 in the formerly described type, it

being seen that the shank of the portion of the locking dog 51 carries a laterally projecting member 63, which, when the'dog is in its depressed locked position, functions within the cut out portion 64 of the bolt 62, similar to the action of the web 28 in the cut out portion 19 in the bolt 16 of the former structure. As a non-tampering element in this instance I provide the expansive helical spring 65 above the portion 50 of the locking dog to more forcibly bias same to locked position, and combat any effort at raising same without the proper key.

Furthermore it will be noted that the holding bolts of this look are indicated at 66 and occur within the outer cover member 61, they being directly carried by the inner portion 60 and inaccessible until the cover member 61 is removed, such removal being impossible without a procedure identical with what was previously described in respect to the first mentioned embodiment of the invention.

In the modification shown in Figures 3 and 4c is illustrated a slightly different shaped locking dog 70, as well as a differently shaped cooperative latch 71, together with sli ht modification of the housing for the look. It is thought that the housing arrangement for the lock is obvious in view of the description of same respecting Figures 1 and 2, and the removable clamping member shown in Figure 5 is identical in either case, except, for the modified look, a hole 73 is provided for the bolt 16, it being in a slightly different position from that shown in Figures 1 and 2. In this structure the locking dog is mounted upon the transverse shaft 7 4 occurring intermediate of the bolt 16 and the key hole 75 and the dog is provided above its pivotal support with an offset extension comprising the major and minor uprights 76 and 7 7 intermediate of which the key when inserted within the lock is designed to function in operating the dog and is provided also with the lateral extension 78 which carries a stub pin for the reception of the expansive helical spring 79, the opposite end of which spring is mounted upon a like stub on the bracket like extension 80 of the inner portion of the housing. The extension 7 8 is also provided with a depending portion 81 which is operable to and from the notch 82 in the bolt 16 in accordance with the position of the locking dog 7 0. That is to say when the locking dog is disengaged from the horn or lug 13 of the switch stand, as illustrated in Figure 4, the extension 81 is free from the notch 82 in the bolt 16 and the latter may then be removed. However it is obvious that this position of the dog cannot exist except as by the action of the key or the like.

Nowthe essential feature of this modifiec formis the provision of means for forcibly actuating the latch 71 by the action of the born 13 of the switch stand in providing against the dog 70 assuming a locked position, and thereby permitting removal of the key from the look when the switch is not closed. This is accomplished by the latch 71 ing p ota y m u o t e pin 83 i he arcuate extension of the housing indicated at 84 and essential for such purpose although differing somewhat from the structures shown in Figures 1 and 2, and said latch 'be 3 lever forced down upon the horn,.the latch will swing upwardly by engagement therewith freeing-it-s uppernotched end from engagement with the free end of the locking dog 7 O, and allowing the latchto'drop asby gravity and also assisted by the spring 79 into lockedrengagement with the horn, simultaneously insuring the bolt. 16 against re moval and freeing the key.

It; will be noted also that as the switch handle is raised, assuming the key to have actuated the locking dog for such purpose, that as the horn '13 leaves the lock it willautomatically reverse the positionof the latch by engagement with the lowermost finger 85 thereof, thusinterposing theopposite notched end of the latch between the shank of the dog 70 and the wall of the housing, as well as also permitting the latch to ride on the finger of the dog, thus insuring its proper po: sition for the subsequent reception of the horn. The lateral extension 86 of the latch is that portion which holds the dog away from the path of the horn while the arcuate extension 87 of the latchis the element which rides the. finger of the dog to keep the latch of failure to function, as for exampleby reason of snow, frost or ice. 6 r

this arrangement, it will be noted that in the modified form the key operates in the opposite direction .to unlock the dog to the direction in which it operates in the embodiment shownin Figures 1 and 2, thus making the invention adaptable to either right or left hand operation of the key. i

Having thusdescribed my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. A switch lock of the type described comprising a separable housing, a two-part pivotally united locking dog within the housing, a bolt for holding the parts of the housing in assembled position and means whereby one part of the dog prevents the removal of the bolt while the dog is in locked position.

2. A key controlled switch lock of the type described comprising a separable housing, a

bolt for holding the separable parts of the housing together, a dog for directly locking the switch handle, said dog pivotally mounted within the housing and normally biased to 5 locked'position, and means whereby the bolt is held against removal by the dog when the latter is in locked position.

3. A key controlled switch lock of the type described comprising a separable housing, a

bolt for holding the separable parts of the housing together, a dog for directly locking the switch handle, said dog pivotally mounted within the housing and normally biased to locked position, and means whereby the bolt is held against removal by the dog when the latter is in locked position, and automatic means directly engaging the dog for holding it in unlocked position.

4; The combination with a switch stand lock having a locking dog therein for engagement with the horn of the switch stand, of a latch pivotally mounted adjacent the dog for interlocking engagement therewith to both pre vent the dog from assuming a locked position and to maintain proper alignment of said latch in respect to said horn.

5. In a switch stand lock ior attachment to the head of a switch stand wherein the switch handle is pivotally mounted, a two part locking dog comprising a normally horizontally disposed portion pivotally mounted at one end to the lock housing, and a depending Vertically reciprocable portion pivotally attached a to the other end of the horizontal portion and 5 preventing movement ofthe handle when in its lowermost position.

' 6. In a switch stand lock for attachment to the head of a switch stand wherein the switch handle is pivotally mounted, a separable hous- 40 ing for said lock, a bolt having a notch therein for holding the housing in assembled relation, and a two part locking dog within the housing for normally preventing movement of the switch handle, a portion of said dog fitting within said notch only when the switch is locked. I

7. A switch stand lock comprising a separable housing, a bolt having an annular notch therein for holding the housing in assembled relation, and a locking dog within the housing engageabfe within said notch only when the switch is locked.

In testimonywhereof I aifix my signature.

I PETER SWANSON. 

